A promise from the Government that it will look into the problems facing schools with large numbers of pupils from military families has been welcomed by Oxfordshire headteachers.

Judith Williams with her class at Ambrosden's Five Acres School, where half the 200 pupils come from services' families based at the nearby Bicester Garrison and defence supplies depot

Schools in the county with high numbers of children from military families say the high turnover of pupils makes it hard to plan budgets.

They also often miss out on funding for children who arrive and leave in the same year and are not on the roll when key budget calculations are made.

Last May, plans for Oxfordshire County Council to raise funding for the affected schools were dropped.

But on Wednesday Witney MP David Cameron stepped up his campaign to get extra funding and support for the affected schools, when he secured a special debate in the House of Commons.

Following the debate, Schools Minister David Miliband admitted there was a problem and said the Government was looking at the issue.

Mr Cameron said schools around RAF Brize Norton faced serious problems, because so many pupils came from military families.

He highlighted the situation at Carterton's Gateway Primary School, where 45 per cent of pupils arrived and left during the past school year, as a particular concern.

He said: "Such a vast turnover, of nearly half the school, essentially makes it impossible to maintain any continuity in school life."

Gay Hennessy -- acting headteacher at the school, where about 80 per cent of the 257 pupils are from military families -- said the situation led to "enormous" pressure on the school's budget last year.

Other problems included teaching pupils who had not been taught the National Curriculum and having to rapidly make provision for those with special educational needs.

She said the fluctuation of pupils was impossible to predict.

Michelle Mairs, acting head of Five Acres Primary School, in Ambrosden, near Bicester, said about half of the school's 200 pupils were from families of soldiers in 23 Pioneer Regiment, based at St David's Barracks, in Graven Hill.

County council offficer Matt Bowmer said higher than average levels of pupil turnover were taken into account in the funding formula used to distribute money to schools.

He said that the council agreed last year that in principle there should be a "forces factor" to boost funding for such schools, although there had not been enough money to introduce the policy.

Mr Bowmer said the idea was being looked at again, and councillors were due to discuss whether to allocate £100,000 for it on Friday, February 4.

If approved, the money could help around nine or ten schools in the county.